Police in Indian Kashmir say government forces have killed five suspected Islamic militants during a raid on their hide-out north of the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir state.

Police say troops are searching for three other suspected guerillas believed to be hiding in the area some 150 kilometers north of Jammu.

Violence in Kashmir continues despite pledges by India and Pakistan to strengthen the peace process. Kashmiri militants have been fighting India since 1989 for independence or a merger with Pakistan. The insurgency has claimed tens of thousand of lives.

The two nuclear rivals fought three wars, two of them over control of the Himalayan region, since they won independence from Britain in 1947.